Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management

Kosciuszko National Park, which encompasses 673,542 hectares, is the largest national park in New South Wales and one of the most complex conservation reserves in Australia.

Kosciuszko National Park is part of the 1.6 million hectare chain of national parks and reserves across the Australian alps. The NSW Government works with the Victorian, ACT and Australian Governments to protect this area through regional programs under the Australian Alps Memorandum of Understanding.

The park contains Australia’s highest mountains, unique glacial landscapes, and unusual assemblages of plants and animals, a number of which are found nowhere else. The park encompasses significant water catchments, the principal seasonally snow-covered region in Australia and extensive tracts of forest and woodland.

Many people have a strong attachment to Kosciuszko National Park. Local Aboriginal communities have deep cultural connections and many non-Aboriginal people have links to the land associated with previous and present uses. The park has a rich Aboriginal and European history and in some cases, the mountains, their people and their exploits have become part of Australian folklore and helped shape our national identity.

The park is one of the most popular national parks in New South Wales. Recreational activities undertaken in the park include vehicle-based sightseeing, bushwalking, cycling, fishing, canoeing, and caving. While winter presence of snow is a main drawcard for many visitors when the alpine resorts become the focus of visitor activities, summer activities, including cycling, are growing strongly.

This plan of management has been prepared to provide a framework to guide the long-term management of the broad range of values contained in the park. It contains a suite of actions to be undertaken by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and other organisations to protect and conserve the values of the park.

Amendments

These amendments have been incorporated into the Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management (2006):

Geotechnical and water management amendment to Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management (2010)

Amendment to increase volunteer ski patrol beds Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management (2010)

Amendments to Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management: Allow pilot of horse riding in wilderness (2014)

Amendments to Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management: To allow consideration of sustainable mountain biking opportunities (2014)

These amendments have been adopted but are not yet incorporated into the published Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management:

Horse Riding in Wilderness Amendments to Plans of Management for Far South Coast Escarpment Parks, Kosciuszko National Park and Mummel Gulf National Park and State Conservation Area (2019).

Amendment to Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management: Visitor Experience Improvements (2019)

Schedule 8 outlines accommodation numbers in the alpine resorts. Bed numbers within the alpine resorts are periodically updated. A plan of management amendment is not required to update Schedule 8.

Schedule 8 accommodation bed numbers Kosciuszko National Park (PDF 489KB)

Implementation reports

These annual implementation reports are a requirement under Chapter 16 of the Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management (2006). They chart trends in the condition of the park's values and the progress of the management plan’s implementation.

Future possibilities for Waste Point

Waste Point has been used as a management base since the 1950s and NPWS is considering how the area can deliver economic, environmental and social benefits for the area. A preliminary master plan, which identified possibilities to create a lakeside precinct for locals and visitors to Waste Point, was developed to explore and generate discussion about these ideas.

Public exhibition for the preliminary master plan was held from 18 July to 29 August 2017.

Waste Point Kosciuszko National Park preliminary master plan (PDF 3.5MB)